The Boy Who Breathed Fire
by Sacredheart99
Summary: This story follows my very first Dragons: Riders of Berk OC - Belwain, and his struggle to deal with his mother's hatred for dragons and the desire to have his very own. Can he finally fly on the back of his very own dragon? Will he lift the stigma of dragons in his mother? How can Hiccup and the Academy help? Please review and be honest. Maybe will contain yaoi in later chapters.


The Boy Who Breathed Flames ~ A 'Dragons: Riders of Berk' Fanfiction

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I look out the window, seeing Berk already up and about. That's how it was with our little island, 'sleep when you're dead' was most of our mottos. Not mine. Mine was 'stay alive by any means' thanks to our island being populated with dragons. Yes, dragons. Every day I see them flying around, landing on houses… and breaking them nine times out of ten… and I want one.

I see the Dragon Academy every day when I'm tending to the sheep, I walk past the Academy and I see those kids training dragons, and every day there's an explosion in there. And every day I'm jealous. I'm so jealous I swear I turn green every time I see Hiccup on that nightfury.

My mother has accepted the fact we now live alongside dragons, but she won't let me join the Academy. She lost my father when killing dragons was the only way to go, killed by a Monstrous Nightmare's fire. I want to be near a dragon, I want to feel it's scaly skin, I want to sit on its back and feel the wind in my hair as we fly. But mother refused to ever let me ride a dragon, she pledged that the day she lost my father that her son would never come into contact with another dragon or get into harm's way by a dragon.

I miss father just as much as she does, in fact, even more… but I'm sick of this stigma she has towards dragons for the action of one. Earlier today, I was just walking through the village to tend to the sheep for Silent Sven, how I earnt the money to keep me and mother fed, when I of course passed the Academy, a large circular training arena with chains around the top and dragon pens inside.

I've snuck in once or twice, trying to get a look at the dragons, but mother always finds me… if not… she tells Gober to find me if I go missing for a while. A while being fifteen minutes. I paused outside of the arena turned dragon training academy, seeing the usual six teens gathered around a board listening to the chief's son Hiccup, rider of the nightfury, teaching them about something. I sat down at the ledge, listening in.

"And so I was saying, this area of the island is packed with wild boars… and for some reason, they're attacking more often than usual" Hiccup said, and like usual the twins interrupted with a stupid question, asking why they couldn't just go around that area, when they couldn't because that was the only way to the other side of the island, and they had to go around that way to deal with trading ships. That was important to us Berk-ians, trading. I loved to listen to Yohan's stories, though I guessed most were made up.

I listened for a while, observing their dragons more than them. I saw Astrid's Deadly Nadder, the way it moved twitchily and squawked like a bird, remembering a previous lesson I'd overheard about them having a blind spot right in front of their noses. I saw Fishleg's Gronkle, and how it looked lazy and always was panting with its massive tongue hanging out. All those teeth…

I saw Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare, and shivered. I wasn't exactly… on good terms with that species of dragon, so I turned to the twins' Zippleback, with the fitting twin heads that spewed a gas and one sparked the gas up. I would never even try to train one of those, two heads… one me. Twice the teeth. I found myself staring at Toothless, Hiccup's nightfury, the only nightfury ever documented. I saw the way his scales shone like obsidian, eyes wide and coloured like olives, sharp teeth and impressive wingspan.

I knew the chance of me ever finding another one was impossible, but if I could ever have the chance to ever ride Toothless, I'd take it in a heartbeat. I was just sitting on the ledge when Snotlout's dragon got angry over something and shot a fireball at the wall… and almost burnt my feet off. That was then they saw me there, and I scampered off as fast as I could, getting to Silent Sven's and leaping the fence. I was resting against the wooden posts of the fence, when a sheep nuzzled up to my feet.

I petted it and hoped they hadn't thought I was spying on them… and hoped they wouldn't tell mother.

I looked up and saw that Sven was standing on his porch, shaking his head at me disdainfully as if he knew what I was doing… but it was most likely from the fact I was fifteen minutes late. Fifteen minutes… oh no, mom's going to know. Sven walked back inside, and I tended to the sheep. I sheered a few, since the others wouldn't listen to me, and went home with slightly less gold thanks to me being late. Sven's wife cleared that up.

But as I walked back past the Academy, I was called on, not by mother… but by… Hiccup? He came right up to me, and Toothless followed behind him like a dog. "Hey um, Belwin was it?" he asked, and I nodded, and he continued "Well, we saw you earlier and… were you listening into the lesson? How much did you hear?" he asked.

"A little bit, only about the boars blocking off a trading rout," I said, only saying half the truth. I didn't want to tell him about me staring at the dragons for a while and being creepy, and he nodded "Well my father doesn't know about this yet, and we're still trying to see if we can move the boars ourselves so we don't cause him any more stess. Trust me, he's under enough of it thanks to your mother" he said, and I sighed "I know, I know."

Hiccup patted my shoulder "It's ok, actually, that's why I wanted to talk to you."

"My mother?"

He shook his head "No, no… it's about why she keeps you in so much… and why you were listening in on the lesson. Well, it's more of a mission than a lesson, and we could use some extra help… but there aren't really any other kids on the island our age… except for…" he gestured to me, and I got it. I was fifteen, and so was Hiccup. He… needed help with something? Was it dragon related? I was guessing. He hardly went anywhere without his scaly friend following.

"You want… me to help?" I asked, and he nodded "That's what I was just saying, but you don't have a dragon, and that's why I was-"

"There you are Belwin! Oh, get away from that dragon!" mother spoke, rushing up to me. She frowned, grabbing my arm and dragging me off with a wave to Hiccup. I got a few looks being dragged by my arm through the village to our house, and she sat me down on the chair in the living room, arms crossed and brow furrowed. "You know you shouldn't be near those horrible creatures, Belwin. You know what they can to do a man," she said, and I resisted the urge to groan.

I went to speak, but she continued like the Viking she was, ignoring me "It could have bitten your arm off, it could have burnt you alive! It could… could have _killed_ you! No, I won't allow my baby boy to be singed to pieces by an overgrown lizard! You are to stay AWAY from the Academy, take the long rout to Sven's farm, I don't care if you're late each day… just stay away from those dragons!" she told me sternly, and I sighed and nodded, and she told me to stay in the house for the rest of the day…

… but like the Viking I was I disobeyed her. I snuck out the window of my room, and got back outside… only to be dragged back home by Gober. "Tsk, tsk, tsk Belwin. Yer mother wouldn't be too happy if she knew you were sneaking out all the time," he said to me, shaking that hook hand at me. I sighed "Gober, she's only mad because of something that happened a year and a half ago! Dragons aren't our enemies anymore… I just want to have a dragon of my own, show mother that they can be an ally and not an pest!" I said, and as if on cue a Gronkle landed on a roof nearby and broke it in on itself.

Gober sighed and shook his head "I'm sorry Bel, but… it's not up to me if you train dragons, it's up to Stoic and your mother…"

That was it. I just had to convince Stoic that I could handle a dragon, and since he's the chief, he'd be able to convince mother. I smiled "Thankyou Gober! You're a genius!" I said, rushing off before he could catch me. I had to find Stoic, and who would know where he is? Maybe Hiccup. I rushed back to the Academy, but paused at the entrance. Hiccup and the gang wasn't there; they'd left already? I could hear Gober rushing to catch me, so I ran as fast as my legs could take me to where the circled off area was on the board; where the boars where.

"Stop!" Gober called out, huffing to catch up "Yer going to get into more trouble than ye can handle!" he spluttered.

I shook the warning off, running through the village to the beginning of the forest, rushing through the trees until I came to one I could easily climb, jumping up into it and seeing the helpless Gober look for me but fail and keep on running through the forest in the wrong direction. I jumped down once I thought it was safe, and walked to where I was trying to remember the circled off area was on the map on the board. It was nice to have the wind flow through my hair that reached the backs of my shoulderblades.

I refused to cut it; father had said that long hair on a Viking was manly. I'd taken it to heart and listened. It used to be golden blonde when father was around, but it had gone pale and turned dirty blonde by this point in time. I walked for a good while, and even saw a few cute little Terrible Terrors yapping at me, but they were too small to even sit on, so I passed up the opportunity to pet one and kept walking. My legs were tired after a while since I only walked less than half a mile each day, and I had easily walked a mile now, and was tired.

I sat down against the trunk of a tall tree, relaxing against it. Mother had probably called all of Berk on high alert for her son, and I laughed sadistically at the thought of her fretting about me. ' _Oh no, where's my son?_ ' she'd cry ' _He ran off because you wouldn't let him have the simple joy of having a dragon for a friend_ ' someone would tell her, and she'd cry out for me worriedly. I realised that it was cruel of me, but she had been cruel and overprotective of me ever since the incident with my father.

Not all dragons are killing machines, some are quite friendly. Like the little Terrible Terror that had emerged from the bushes and was nervously skirting around me to try and determine if I was going to harm it or not. It sniffled at me and made a half burp half squeak sound, eyes barely focused on me. It sniffed my boots, and came close enough to smell my hands, making another burp-squeak. It was probably because I smelt like sheep. "I'm sorry," I said "I don't have any food on me."

It made a disappointed sound, and yet nestled by my feet. I reached out to pet the thing, but it snapped at my fingers and I didn't take too kindly to that. I stood up and it looked at me as if I had just insulted its mother, it made a growling noise, attempting to breath fire on me, but I simply side stepped and dodged the tiny little fireball. I walked off, and it yapped at me before flying away drunkenly.

After a while of walking, I came to a sign nailed to a tree. **BOAR WARNING: ISSUED BY THE 'DRAGON ACADEMY'.**

Boar warning? If I could find Hiccup here, I could find Stoic and convince him to let me have a dragon. The sign must mean that Hiccup and the rest of the gang must have passed through here recently; this sign wasn't here the last time I walked through here. I walked past the sign, not encountering any so called boars around, nor did I encounter any other company. There was complete silence through the woods, not a single sound. This was suspicious, there was always noise in Berk, thanks to us and the dragons.

A twig snapped behind me, and I turned to see a dark shape hovering in the shadows, emerging with a demonic growl. A boar. Two more emerged from beside it, and soon I was surrounded by the growling furred monsters, eying me off with those feral red eyes, drooling and foaming at the mouth. My dagger shone in my belt, and I grabbed it out… but that only angered the beasts. They charged me and I barely had time to move before – several bursts of amethyst fire burst down around me and startled the boars, the fire circling me and preventing the boars' attacks, so they trotted away.

Something landed down after the fire dissipated, and I turned to see Toothless… with Hiccup on his back. "Belwin? What are you doing out here? Didn't you see the sign? There are rabid boars out here," Hiccup told me, stepping down from his dragon and standing in front of me… being slightly shorter than me. We were almost the same height, but I had a slightly more fit musculature than him, which wasn't saying much. He kind of looked like a twig… no, that's mean.

I hung my head "I was just looking for _you_ …"

He raised a brow "Why?"

"So I could know where Stoic is so I could convince him to let me have… a… have a dragon of my own… and maybe he could convince my mother to let me grow up and have one…" I said, focusing on the charred dirt, knowing he was probably giving me an odd look just like Gober and mom did when I spoke about owning a dragon. There was a while of silence before the chief's son spoke up. "I get that your mother is kind of against dragon training… trust me, we get enough of it from Mildew… but… if you want a dragon, I can put in a word with my father and he can attempt to convince your mother… but if you want to train a dragon…" he paused "Meet me at the Academy tomorrow at noon. We'll work something out."

I couldn't believe my ears and I looked up at Hiccup with a look of disbelief and joy on my face "Really?!"

He nodded, but remembered something bad by the look on his face and sighed "I just remembered that Stoic went off on a business boating trip… something about Yohan needing help… and he left before any of the others could step in and volunteer. He'll be gone for at least a good few days, so we'll have to put a raincheck on the whole 'convincing your mother' idea" he told me, and I sighed "Just my luck."

"Don't worry Bel… I can call you that right? Erm… just show up at the Academy at noon tomorrow, and we'll get things organised" he said, stepping back onto Toothless. "Did you want a ride back to Berk?" he asked, and Toothless made a half purring half whirring sound, looking at me with curious wide eyes. I nodded, excited to finally be able to ride a dragon. I walked around the dragon, climbing up onto the saddle's back and balancing my weight as I'd heard in a lesson, and with a single flap we were airborne.

Never before had adrenaline rushed through my veins so fast than that single moment of lift-off.

Once we were in the air, over Berk's forest area, I was lost in my own little world. Seeing the clouds up close, the town below, the wind through my hair and against my cheeks… I felt free. I felt free from the stress of my mother and the constant observation I was under. Nothing could touch me, being so high in the sky, and I inhaled the fresh air from up so high, feeling so carefree and relaxed. The flight took… maybe a few minutes… but it felt like an eternity of peace and tranquillity, and I had lost all stress… until we landed and mother came rushing at us.

She even spooked Toothless. She yanked me off the back of him, and stood me there, scowling at me "Belwain Yornsmith… how dare you disobey a direct order from your own mother. You not only ran away, but you rode a DRAGON. How could you? And you Hiccup, you'll be chief some day! How could you allow my son to ride your beast of a dragon?" she asked, turning to Hiccup and Toothless.

"In all honesty, Ms Yornsmith… I was only giving him a ride back to Berk. I was doing you a favour," Hiccup said in defence, and my mother growled "You're lucky you're the chief's son," she growled, grabbing my wrist and dragging me back home, locking me in my room. I sat down on my bed, looking to my desk. I'd drawn a few pictures with charcoal, just a few sketches of course. Of dragons. I had a very accurate sketch of a Gronkle, a semi-acurate one of a Nadder and… even one of Toothless, but it wasn't very good. I think I got his wings out of proportion.

I sat down, grabbing my paper and charcoal and looking out the window, seeing a Monstrous Nightmare sleeping on a perch on the house next door. Fearsome beast. I began to sketch it, but it got woken up and flew away after a while and I only had its front half drawn. _Meet me at the Academy tomorrow at noon. We'll work something out…_ I remembered the words that Hiccup had told me, filling my heart with hope, but feeling that hope disappear like quartz in front of a Gronkle at remembering my mother's words over and over for the past year.

' _Stay away from dragons… they're terrible beasts… dragons killed your father… stay away from those beasts Belwain… it's for the best…_ '

I won't listen to her for a day longer, I'll have my own dragon even if it kills me. It probably will. I wonder if my mother would be all ' _I told you so_ ' at my funeral. She most likely would. I bit my lip, chewing it and thinking. I moved out of my chair, walking to my window and looking out. The sun was already setting, and I sighed. So another day in Berk comes to a close. Same as always. I work, walk past the Academy and listen, I get scolded, come home, sleep and repeat. How long will this go on? I hate repeating myself… and I'm filled with anger as I realise that I've been repeating myself for the past year. I growled and sent my fist flying into the wall, leaving a dint… and a sore fist.

I lay down on my bed, seething with rage silently. Mother calls me down for dinner, but I ignore her and go to sleep. I sigh and try to sleep, but the thought of dragons and the feeling of flying on Toothless remains in my mind… and follows me into my dreams. I imagine myself flying on a mysterious dragon, flying through the sky on its back, feeling the wind through my hair, the warmth from the dragon's body emanating through my clothing and warming me. Suddenly the warmth grows to much, and it becomes burning, and I wake with a start, glad to be out of the dream…

… when I realise that the burning from the dream was the fire surrounding me in my bedroom, the smoke filling my lungs.

The house was on fire.


End file.
